In the manufacture of eating utensils such as flatware it is most economical to make each article as a solid metal piece. For example, knives, forks, and spoons can be integrally formed from stainless steel at low cost, and have a long useful life as well as being reasonably attractive in appearance.
It is most desirable, however, to be able to add decoration to the appearance of these items. One way to do that is to add spots of a decorative plating, such as gold plating.
In the spot plating of flatware it has not hitherto been known how to accomplish the process in a truly efficient and economical manner. The known technique has involved re-plating the entire utensil, and then removing the new plating from all surfaces except the selected surfaces on which it was to remain.